You have probably heard of autism, a neurodevelpmental disorder in which children have impaired social interactions, is now closer to being understood. This report in the the March 8, 2014 issue of Science News  relays the Feb 7 Science  information that the diuretic bumetamide, already reported to help at least some autistic children, prevented autism from developing in rodent models of the disease, when pregnant rodents were given the diuretic one day before the rodent pups were born.

Here is the sequence of preventive events as elucidated in the rodent models:

1. The diuretic reduces prenatal pup brain chloride.
2. The lower chloride levels permit a  a GABA functional reversal.  Prenatally, GABA is an excitatory  neurotransmitter, whereas after birth, GABA is a calming neurotransmitter.
3. Too much chloride prevents the GABA functional switch from happening during birth, and leaves the rodent pup brain in a hyper-excitable, immature condition.
4. It is way to early to try this on people.   However, this is a very promising result, which will hasten forward progress in the areas of autism prevention and treatment.

Any way to personally or societally become more efficient,  including ways to prevent and offset any health issues ultimately saves all of us energy and fossil fuel use.